A San Diego mother is suing Chuck E. Cheese, the favorite pizza chain of kids across the nation, accusing the restaurant of illegal gambling. Denise Keller, mother of two daughters, says Chuck E. Cheese has replaced its traditional games of skee-ball and whack-a-mole with machines that resemble slot machines, Capitol Weekly reported. The lawsuit says that many games found at Chuck E. Cheeses restaurants are illegal gambling devices that require little or no skill and are predominantly games of chance, much like a roulette wheel, according to the paper. Kellers attorney, Eric Benink, said the games have flashing lights and bright colors just like slot machines. "There was no fun involved in the game other than an opportunity to win a prize," he told Capitol Weekly. Its just pure random luck in terms of spinning out a result. That, we believe, is a slot machine, as California penal code spells out.

Then don’t take them there. There are plenty of real pizza places out there to take them to.

Chuckies has terrible pizza and always has. A founder of a video game company back in the 80s was forthright about it. They started Chuck E Cheese as a way to draw kids into playing their video games; the pizza was crap but that was not the point of the place.

6
posted on 05/13/2011 12:33:38 PM PDT
by RJS1950
(The democrats are the "enemies foreign and domestic" cited in the federal oath)

Well this is something I know well. I work as the Technical Manager at a Chuck E. Cheese store. This means I'm responsible for the entire game, rides and show section of the restaurant. Games. Rides. Show. That's the 3 things.

The rides are usually kiddie type rides. The show is the animatronic video presentation.

The "games" will vary from store to store. Games that give out tickets are called redemption games. There are games that don't give out tickets...these of course are non-redemption games.

Each store has a mix of redemption and non-redemption games. The redemption games vary widely. Some give a fixed number of tickets and do have a high element of skill. Some give a variable number of tickets and have a high element of skill. Some give a fixed or variable number of tickets and don't require much skill. On some games the payouts are programmable. On others they're not.

The "payout" is paper tickets that can be redeemed for prizes. Or you can purchase prizes straight up...or a combo.

I would say that the person suing is looking to make a buck off Chuck....

If it puts CEC out of business, that would be a good thing. Places are nothing but germ factories.

I take exception to that. Anyplace that kids congregate is going to be a "germ factory". I would bet that the cleanliness of a typical Chuck E. Cheese store is thousands, if not millions, of times higher than the cleanliness of a typical classroom or lunchroom at a school.

So let's shut down schools, pre-schools and church nursery too because they're all "germ factories".

It's not that bad. Dough is made daily. Ingredients are fresh. We get our produce from a farm that delivers weekly. It's more of a perception issue. Nonetheless Chuck E. Cheese has started a new pizza recipe/baking process that is being rolled out to stores in order to combat the perception.

Well, as far as cleanliness, I know from experience that the plastic balls the kids play in always smells like urine. I’m sure they try to clean up and keep it that way, but dealing with so many kids in and out all day, I’m sure it’s a losing battle.

No its that bad. The dough is gummie, the cheese is in name alone, fresh bad ingredients dont make good pizza.

To each their own. The new pizza is 100% real mozzarella. The new crust has been reformulated and will be cooked on screens instead of pans so the "gummy", if that's your perception, is gone. The dough is mixed and rolled out daily and I have the machines to prove it!

Chuck E. Cheese isn't gourmet pizza by any means but it's also not the main draw of a typical Chuck E. Cheese store either.

Well, as far as cleanliness, I know from experience that the plastic balls the kids play in always smells like urine. Im sure they try to clean up and keep it that way, but dealing with so many kids in and out all day, Im sure its a losing battle.

When was the last time you were in a store? I don't think there are any of those plastic ball things at any Chuck E. Cheese store and haven't been for at least maybe 5 to 10 years though I'm not sure of the exact time frame.

Notice the first two improvements you mention go straight at the problems I mentioned, and those criticisms weren’t just my perception, they were pretty well known as the CEC problem. Making the gummy crust a real crust and replacing that horrid fake cheese with 100% real mozzarella. It’s good that they’re catching up with the improved American pallet, now if only Peter Piper and Little Caesars (the mass market pizzas that kept CEC from being the worst) would do the same.

Don’t want to be reliant on somebody else. Look at the mess that’s happened with some of the cable/ dish company vs network disputes lately. If you think it’s annoying for a cable company to lose ABC think of how much worse it would be for an ostensibly pizza place to lose their pizzas. What surprises me is that so many of them are dry, if you’re going to expect adults to hang out in a room full of overstimulated kids you need to give them beer. Frankly the first round should be complimentary.

Dominoes pizza changed a lot. It was most noticeable for me in their mushrooms, old Dominoes had arguably the worst mushrooms ever put on a pizza by anybody, now they’re actually good. Dominoes pizza as a whole went from basically acceptable to actually good. Still not great, but you know longer feel sullied.

Back in the days when my younguns went to Chuck E. Cheese I explained to them Chuck E. Cheese math. I calculated the actual cost to win a prize and compared it an estimated street value for the prize. I got a 10/1 ratio.

The pizza also tasted like cardboard.

The kids did have fun at the place, and I do have fond memories of taking them to it. I guess someday I will be taking my grandkids as well.

Chuck E. Cheese math is still cheaper than teenage math.

I do hope you improve the pizza when I come back in 10 to 20 years or so.

The bottom line is that CEC should be able to run its business the way it sees fit. I don’t go there for pizza, I go there when I want to give kids a treat (their perception, not mine) AND get them fed.

They went downhill when they started messing with the crust. Now that Dominoes has fixed their stuff PH is pretty close to the bottom. Little Caesars actually improves with age, pretty darn good next day which puts them better than PH (which never improves).

We have a Chuck E. Cheese in our town, and we went ONCE. Migraines while 9 months pregnant suck! LOL We were living in a hotel after moving to town and wanted to celebrate our son’s 5th birthday. The kids loved it...Mom and Dad, not so much.

That being said, there is a place here in town that was opened in the last couple of years by a couple from our parish (their son is a classmate of our oldest daughter). It is a pizza buffet type place w/the games and tickets that are redeemable for prizes. The place is clean, well-run, the food is reasonably priced and pretty tasty, and is set up in a manner that adults can enjoy a pizza out front w/o hearing the screaming kids if they want. They even have live entertainment on certain nights. The place is packed any day of the week I pass by it. It’s one of the most popular places for birthday parties in town.

36
posted on 05/13/2011 2:05:05 PM PDT
by Hoosier Catholic Momma
(Change everything you are, everything you were, your number has been called.)

It is a pizza buffet type place w/the games and tickets that are redeemable for prizes. The place is clean, well-run, the food is reasonably priced and pretty tasty, and is set up in a manner that adults can enjoy a pizza out front w/o hearing the screaming kids if they want.

That's a great business. Chuck E. Cheese's really has no national competition and hardly any local competition. I would open up a similar place in a heartbeat if I had the capital.

You know, I never really noticed that about Chuck E. Cheese not having any competition until you mentioned it. I think that is why the pizza place owned by my daughter’s friend’s parents is such a hit. They have (mostly) private party rooms that can be used as general dining if there are no parties booked. They have the big-screen TV for sports. It’s really a win-win for the owners and the community. It would be a great business to own.

38
posted on 05/13/2011 2:13:26 PM PDT
by Hoosier Catholic Momma
(Change everything you are, everything you were, your number has been called.)

I like Chuck E. Cheese. I like the pizza and the carnival games. I just don’t like some of the other customers, and don’t like it when it’s too crowded. Years ago, CEC was dark inside and the pizza was orange. Then the pizza got better and they put in fun, but unsanitary, ball pits and climbing apparatus. Now all that’s gone and the lighting is better. For me, if the clientele improved, it would be a good thing. But I live in LA and the crass people are ubiquitous. Not CEC’s fault, really. I think CEC generally tries to run a decent family place and there is no other big chain that does quite the same thing. Chuck E. is ok with me.

40
posted on 05/13/2011 2:20:46 PM PDT
by married21
(As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.)

But I live in LA and the crass people are ubiquitous. Not CECs fault, really. I think CEC generally tries to run a decent family place and there is no other big chain that does quite the same thing. Chuck E. is ok with me.

I agree...the quality of the customer is directly dependent on location. People will drive to our store in a smaller town rather then go to stores that are closer to an urban area because of the people issue.

BTW the BEST time to go to a CEC is a weekday morning. Second best time is a Sunday morning. Third best is a weekday afternoon. Fourth best is a weeknight during the school year. EVERYONE goes on Friday and Saturday nights. Everyone goes on spring break too.

Thats some info, thanks. You sure there are any comps from the branch manager if the kids return? (j/k)

It's a great place to work. Not a lot of money, but free meals and the pleasure of seeing happy people all day. General Managers can do very well with bonuses and what not if they run a good store. For managers the turn over ratio is relatively low compared to other restaurants or retail businesses.

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